In Lewis Jetta and Gary Rohan, the Swans already boast two of the competition's quickest players, and Shirvington will be working with the playing group throughout the pre-season to improve their pace and agility.
A five-time national 100m champion and a semi-finalist at the Sydney Olympics, Shirvington has previously worked with NRL side St George Illawarra and took his first training session with the Swans on Wednesday.
"I'm just hoping to add a little bit of speed and acceleration and agility to the boys' skill base," Shirvington told the Swans' website.
"I'm not trying to change their game or the way they move so much as try to add a little bit of speed and acceleration in and out of the ruck, movement with a defender and trying to keep things competitive.
“Sprinting is a fundamental movement. We can all run, but there’s loads you can work on and loads your body can do to inspire connection with the ground and power application and being able to use that power.
“Most of the guys lift heavy in the gym but then they come out here and their technique is off a little bit and they lose a bit of power out of their body and if they don’t direct it correctly then it’s a little bit of a waste of time.
“Being able to take what they learn in the gym and their natural ability to sprint and to really consolidate that out here on the field and have them move into some skills is really fun.”
Shirvington said Jetta, who has thrilled AFL crowds with some of his sprinting displays in his four seasons with the Swans, and Dan Hannebery were a standouts during the training session.
Jetta and Shirvington even had a sprint off, with the 2012 premiership winner coming out on top in one duel.
“I raced Lewis Jetta today, which I’ve always wanted to do, and he got me on the first one,” Shirvington said.
“He’s such a natural, gifted runner and he’s just so smooth.
“He’s still got loads to improve on and he’s still growing and getting stronger, but he’s such a threat when he’s doing well.”
Jetta was also pleased to take the Olympian's scalp.
"I think I got him. I'm not too sure," Jetta said.
"He probably slowed down a bit, he's pretty quick. But I'll take it. He said I beat him, so I'll take that.
“It’s good that he’s taking our warm-ups. We’ve learnt a lot about running, we already thought we knew a lot about running, but we learnt about different ways of running and using your knees, ankles and hips.
“He’s got Olympic training and I’m pretty quick myself, so if I can put those two things together then hopefully I get faster.”
Twitter: @AFL_JD
Matt Shirvington checks the clock during a training session at Lakeside Oval. Picture: Lachlan Cunningham
Shirvington instructs the Swans in the finer points of running fast. Picture: Lachlan Cunningham
